


Farmers' Market

by wheel_pen



Series: Darkwood Eastport [3]
Category: Lie to Me (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fish out of Water, Magic, Polygamy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-26
Updated: 2015-03-26
Packaged: 2018-03-19 19:37:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3621783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wheel_pen/pseuds/wheel_pen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Orange Light clan visit the local farmers’ market, where Gillian buys many creative handmade objects and Cal watches the children dance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Farmers' Market

**Author's Note:**

> The bad words are censored; that’s just how I do things. I own nothing and appreciate the chance to play in this universe. I’ve given a lot of thought to the Darkwood culture, so if something seems confusing, feel free to ask. I hope you enjoy!

_Summer, year one_

“What are you doing now?” Cal asked into the cell phone.

On the other side of the town farmers’ market, Gillian replied. “ _I’m about to buy a ridiculously large number of t-shirts with teddy bears hand-painted on them_.” She sounded quite determined.

“Be sure to get one for me, I’ll wear it to work,” Cal deadpanned.

He heard the smile in Gillian’s voice. “ _Are they still dancing?_ ”

Cal peered through his sunglasses at their four-year-old twins, Robert and Caroline, who were hopping and gyrating a few feet away. “Yes,” he assured her, and she made a fond noise. “It’s disgustingly cute,” Cal assured her, his tone indicating this wasn’t necessarily a good thing. “I’ve got tons of video already. I think they think he’s Dancing Dan.”

Dancing Dan was an icon of television in Darkwood Valley—his show had run daily for seventy years or so, entertaining young children with the simple premise of dancing non-stop to live music. Of course there had been several hosts over the years—and, despite his name, Dancing Dan did not in fact dance himself, he merely played a variety of instruments, including the guitar. The current host really bore little resemblance to the long-haired, dirty-clothed, possibly homeless man who strummed a guitar and worked a drum and a tambourine with food pedals, lodged in a corner of the farmers’ market hoping for spare change. But this obviously didn’t deter the cluster of young Darkwood children who frolicked around him.

“There’s a whole crowd of us here,” Cal reported, noting the Brown Sparrow and Red Water children and their attendant parents. “The locals are going to think we’re insane. Especially when you buy those teddy bear shirts.”

“ _They’re so cute!_ ” Gillian protested. “ _And I’ve never seen anything like them. They’ll love them in the Valley. Say, have you seen the girls?_ ”

Cal glanced around. “No. You want me to call them?”

“ _Yes, please_ ,” Gillian requested. “ _I have some things for them to take back to the car_.”

“Okay. Talk to you later.” Cal hung up, leaving Gillian to purchase her teddy bear shirts, and dialed the number of the cell phone Alice had been assigned.

“ _Um… hi!_ ” Alice greeted uncertainly after several rings. Telephones were not used in the Valley, thus their operation was still somewhat confusing.

“Your mother needs you,” Cal conveyed. “She’s near the northwest corner of the square. Where are you?”

“ _Um… In the middle, I think_ ,” Alice answered vaguely.

Cal rolled his eyes. “Who’s with you?”

“ _Anna, Julia, and Louisa_ ,” Alice reported dutifully. “ _Hey, Dad, we’re at this booth where this lady makes_ awesome _jewelry, and the Grey Staff twins just bought a_ ton _, there’s hardly any left_ —“

“Go help your mother first,” Cal ordered. “Northwest corner. I’ll be tracking you with the GPS.”

“ _Fine!_ ” Alice huffed, as only a teenager could, and hung up.

Cal put the cell phone away and pulled his video recorder back out, aiming it at the cavorting children. His parents would watch _hours_ of their grandchildren doing mindless things, even more so now that the clan had moved to America. Several of the children had dropped out by now and were sitting on the blacktop of the parking lot or lolling in their parents’ arms. Only Caroline and Tiberius Brown Sparrow were left, expressions of grim determination on their faces as they continued to pick up their feet. Finally Tiberius gave up, plopping down on the ground, dejected and exhausted.

Caroline danced a little longer, because that was the rule, then started to squeal with victory. “I won the bunny! I won the bunny!” A stuffed rabbit was the traditional prize for the last child left standing on Dancing Dan’s musical marathon.

Congratulations were made all around, and the musician received several large bills in the upturned hat on the ground in front of him. Cal dragged the lethargic Robert to his feet and began to tow him and his jubilant sister towards their mother. “I won the bunny!” Caroline repeated with great excitement.

“Yes, that was very well done,” Cal agreed. “You danced for so long! How long do you think you danced for?”

“A million billion years!” Caroline guessed.

“I’m tired!” Robert whined, tugging on Cal’s hand.

“Now, what does Dancing Dan say?” Cal reminded him. “About whining?”

“Whining is bad and we shouldn’t do it!” Caroline chirped triumphantly. Well, it sounded catchier in the Valley tongue.

“And what does he also say, about being a good winner?” Cal prodded.

“Winners can’t be _mean_!” Robert supplied, a bit resentfully. Well, it took time to learn these lessons.

Cal finally spotted Gillian, who was perusing objects that looked to him like metal and wood junk one would find in a scrapheap. “Mommy! Mommy! I won the bunny!” Caroline shouted, racing up to her.

“You _did_!” Gillian replied with enthusiasm. “That’s wonderful! I’m so proud of you.”

“ _Robert_ didn’t win the bunny,” Caroline pointed out, when Gillian gave him a hug and a kiss, too.

“But I’m sure he’s happy for you, and that he didn’t whine!” Gillian explained. “So I’m proud of him, too.”

Caroline did not spare much thought for that. “So where’s my bunny?”

Clearly Gillian had not considered that the winning of the bunny would require an _actual_ toy bunny to be produced. “Um, well—“

“Come with me, Caroline,” Cal decided, taking her hand. “I’m sure we can find you a bunny. Did the girls find you?” he asked Gillian.

“Oh yes,” she assured him. “They’re off buying jewelry now, or something. What do you think of this?” She indicated what looked like a mutilated tin can affixed to a pole, painted in gaudy yellow and green. The expression on Cal’s face answered her question adequately. “It’s a lawn ornament! Isn’t it so creative? I’m going to get some.” Lawn space was at a premium in the Valley and Gillian, who loved to garden, was taking their multi-acre plot of land by storm.

“I’m not whining!” Robert declared. “But I’m tired!”

“Come on, then, let’s go find a bunny,” Cal told both children. “We’ll leave Mummy to pick out her, er, _lawn ornaments_.”


End file.
